1 & 2 Chronicles

— Read and listen to the Bible being read at the same time; also, A. R. Wells, 1908, shares a (self-application) “tiny meditation” on each chapter.
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Samuel Anointing David King of Israel (allposters.com)

Suggestions:
1) Read the “tiny meditation” before and/or after you read the Bible chapter to help make a self-appllication of the scriptures read.
2) Want to use both your eye gate and ear gate in taking in the Word? Just click the “Read” chapter to get started.

Me also shall God help, as He aided His people of old (chapter 5:20). For I put my trust in God. I have no confidence in myself. I know that I am powerless; I know that He is almighty. I have proved my weakness. I have proved His strength. This knowledge and faith are my only strength. Indeed, what more do I need?

To me, as to each of the Levites, is my “set office” (chapter 9). To me there is some little apportionment of the Lord’s work, something that will not be done unless I do it; or, if done, it will be done at the expense of some one’s over-work. I will have pride in my task. I will rejoice in my task. And, with God’s help, I will be faithful to it.

“So Saul died for his transgressions.” Of course he did. Every one dies for his transgression. Sin is death, and death at once. What matters the death of the body? What avails to drag around, in a living body, a dead soul?

How sacred is it, all that my dear ones are doing for me! How precious is their self-sacrifice! How beautiful is their thoughtfulness! What a crown, passing an emperor’s, is the honor they pay me! I will pour it all out, as David did, for a libation to the Lord. It is too holy a thing to be used in any way selfishly.

Little of my victories are my own, and little of my work is done by me. I have innumerable helpers. I cannot live alone or labor alone or fight alone in any battle. God has buttressed me round about with comrade toilers. They may not be called my comrades, but they are. And I will praise God for them day by day.

I to advise the All-wise! I to aid the Almighty! I to criticize the All-loving! I, a worm, an atom! And yet, this inconceivable folly has been mine, as it was Uzza’s; and not once only, but many times. How can I hope for pardon? And yet the Lord is All-merciful.

Before I go up to battle, let me inquire always of the Lord. To whatever battle, against many or against few. In whatever place, when the advantage is with me, or against me. For I know not the issue, but God knows. And my victory, in any event, is in obedience to God.

Over what do I rejoice? Is my singing, is my dancing, is my laughter, for the ark, for the church, for the Kingdom of God? Or is it for the bank, for the finery, for the hand-clap? Let me know myself, even as God knows me, by the things that make me happy.

David shows me in what I should rejoice. I should glory in the Lord. My thanksgiving should be for His kindness, my praise for His perfections, my prayer for His triumphs. As I lose myself in Him, then for the first time do I truly find myself.

What I gain from my wars, let me, like David, dedicate to the Lord. It is He that quickened my mind to win victories in the realm of learning. It is He that strengthened my soul to overcome temptation. It is He that has turned my rout into a triumph on many a difficult field. His alone is the power, and His shall be the glory, forever.

When I am misunderstood, when my purposes are misjudged, when men suspect me wrongfully and make my good evil, what shall I do? Let me follow the example of Him who, when He was reviled, reviled not again. Let me do good, seeking for nothing in return. Let my reward be from God, and not from men.

They oppose me everywhere, horrible enemies, looming gigantic and frightful. They menace me with their hands,–dire temptations, manifest dangers, losses and failures, ridicule and opposition, a thousand uglinesses and perils. But I will do battle in the name of David’s God. I will not fear them, or many more like them. For Jehovah is greater than all besides.

Forbid, O God, that I should repeat the sin of David, that I should number my goods and my powers, that I should vaunt myself great and flourish myself before Thee! Lead me to know the beauty of lowliness. Humble me, O God, and teach me to humble myself.

The work that I cannot do, let me make it easier for others to do. What I cannot complete or even begin, let me store up the materials for it. Let me do what I can, however little; for in doing that I shall have done a great thing.

In the great division of work in God’s kingdom I have a part. I am assigned to some company of laborers; have I joined the company? Some particular phase of the work has been laid aside for me; are my hands empty of it? A time is coming when I shall see that all my happiness, for all eternity, depends on my being where God wants me doing the thing God wants me to do.

They cast lots, in the tabernacle work, to determine the companies of workers. Much in my work in the world seems likewise to be an affair of chance. But nothing essential is an affair of chance, or was in David’s time. God’s ordering of my life is not haphazard, though my own ordering is, when I take my life out of God’s hands.

There are skilled singers and skilled players on instruments, but I must not allow even these to make all the music in God’s world. Though my voice is harsh, God listens for it also. Though my fingers are clumsy; God has a harp for them also. Let everything that hath breath praise the Lord!

No work is menial, done for Jehovah! I am unworthy of the least task, unfit to perform the smallest service. It is of God’s high grace that I am admitted at all to the number of His servants, and surely I shall not quarrel with the assignment He gives me.

Over what am I set, in the Lord’s work? Over the treasuries, or the vineyards? Over the olive-trees, or the oil-cellars? Over the sheep, or the camels? Whatever it is, I should know it. And whatever it is, let me so manage my stewardship that my Lord’s face will light up, when He comes to review my work.

Great and wise men, going before me, have not been able to complete their designs; sometimes they have not even been able to begin upon them. To me, as to Solomon, some of these designs are entrusted. It is a splendid trust, and I am unequal to it, but Thou, O my Helper, art equal to it all.

How ashamed I am when I think of my reluctant gifts, my unwilling service! That I should accept with grudging this high privilege, and give with frowns what I should lavish with exultation! Henceforth my giving and my working shall be with a song and a shout, and I shall begin to live.
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Though I come to have the riches of a Solomon, and all of Solomon’s magnificence, I must reckon, as he reckoned, that the chief riches is wisdom. And if I continue without riches, yet the wisdom of God may dwell in my heart. I must be happy and contented, knowing that within my reach is the greatest of all possessions. Help me to this wisdom, O Thou God of Solomon!

Not even Solomon could do without Hiram; how then can I hope, alone, to rear any temple for the Lord? I shall call my assistants from far and near. I shall levy upon all that will contribute. Let me have no pride of originality. Let me never think to be the sole builder. It is that the temple may be built, not that I may be praised!

Where is my gold? Where are my rich cloths, my gems, the valuable goods of my life? If not in precious metal or other material, then the jewels of the mind, the gold of character, where are they? Am I building them into Thy house, O my God?

The great purpose of my life, my temple, involves many lesser purposes, the altar, the lavers, the tables, the brass upon the doors. Am I forgetting the littles that make up the large? Am I rearing the walls and neglecting what is to give them significance when they are reared? Forbid this, O Lord!

Somewhere in my life, if it is to be a life worth living, there must be a Most Holy Place, a place of the Shekinah, a place where Jehovah dwells continually. Thither I shall bend my soul, from the midst of whatever cares or toil or sorrow. And there, whenever my longing spirit finds opportunity, I shall meet my Father.

Here is my life, with all its contents. Have I ever knelt down, my hands outspread toward heaven, and truly given it all to the God of heaven and earth? If not, let me not delay an instant longer. For it is His, all His, and I am His, and He shall be mine, forever.

My alternative is the same as Solomon’s, the same as the Jews’. I may honor God,–and be at peace; I may honor other gods,–and be an outcast. I cheat myself so often by fancying a midway course; but there is no intermediary, there is no third possibility. And which am I really choosing for my life?

Which is more to be applauded, the Queen of Sheba, who made the long journey seeking wisdom, or Solomon, who had it as a gift from God? Certainly the queen at lest no less than the King. Let me not forget that, though great ability may not be mine, to admire the noble acquirements of others, and to seek the company of the wise in books, may be mine, and will be as honorable.

I can have no richer wealth than humility. My enemies can lay no snare for me more dangerous than my pride. Who am I, that I should vaunt myself? What shall I become, if I do vaunt myself? A second Rehoboam, the mockery of men!

As the priests flocked to Judah and strengthened the nation, so let my life become a rendezvous for all holy thoughts and purposes. As they are driven from other places, let them find in my heart a ready haven. In those let me see my strength, and not in men, or might, or money.

How shall I know the blessedness of serving God? By serving God! Not by forgetting God, and falling into the hands of the enemy, and learning the hardnesses of his service, and then coming back, with late and repentant rejoicings, to the happy service of God. But by serving God—now!

How prone I am to trust in my own hands and my own brain! And then I find myself in ambush, the enemy behind me and in front, and there is no deliverance in man. Then I cry to the Lord in my trouble, and He delivers me out of all my distresses. Praise the Lord forever. Trust the Lord forever and aye.

They are many, O Lord, that rise up against me; but Thou, though One, art more than they. Their hosts are strong, but Thou canst wither them with a breath. They flame with hatred, but Thou dost glow with love. I will trust, and not be afraid. I will trust Thee, and not be afraid.

Where is my Azariah, to meet me with exhortations, to bid me seek the Lord and He will be found of me? Rather, where is not my Azariah? Where do I not hear myself thus urged? By the memories of the past and the experiences of the present. By the gracious influences of nature without and the sacred voice within. By the Book. By the Church. By friends. By the volumes of the sages. Ah, my Azariahs abound!

As Jehoshaphat found it, as all the Jehoshaphats have found it in all ages, so do I find it today: there is no prosperity without the Lord. There is sham prosperity enough, but there is no prosperity. And yet how much of my time and strength I waste in seeking prosperity rather than the Lord!

Do I seek smooth counsel, or true counsel? Will I be pleased as with honey or fair fruit, when I ask for guidance? Is it to amuse me, or is it to direct me? I must forsake such folly. I must value above all other blessings the true friend, whose words are frank, and for my good; who speaks the thing as it is.

I shall make mistakes; only let me seek ever to avoid them. I shall sin; only let me strive against sin with all my might. I shall fall under temptation; only let me never set my heart upon it, but let me set my heart to seek my God. Then will He—not I—conquer temptation and sin, and keep me upright forever.

I need not fight my battles. I have only to stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord. I have only to give thanks for the victory in my valley of Beracah. For the Lord God Omnipotent is on my side.

To me also comes a writing from Elijah the prophet; yea, from many Elijahs, many prophets. And the words of all the writings are the same, and the voice of the past is one word, and that great word is “Obey!”

There comes a time when action must take the place of rest, and openness of concealment, and boldness of trembling. At the call of the Lord, I must take up my crown, and wear it courageously. Though dangers attend it, I must wear it the more proudly, and gladly.

If the Lord’s house is in ruins, it is as if my own were. If the church is not prosperous, my affairs are not prosperous. If the kingdom of God is endangered, my own throne totters. I will identify myself with the interests of Jehovah. I will not count anything a blessing apart from Him and His.

How many times has Jehovah saved me, as wonderfully as He saved Amaziah; and fought my battles, as He fought his! Yet I have turned to the gods that could not save their own followers, the gods of the world, the betrayers of worldlings. Let me seek them no longer—money, fame, power, ease; let me seek only the God that has blessed me.

So shall I become mighty—O just and wise saying!—if I also, like Jotham, “order my ways before the Lord my God.” In that ordering there is peace. Along those ways are ranged all blessedness. And as I walk therein, every foe falls back before me.

Frantic, I turn here and there. I seek many allies. I beseech many altars. I know not where to find assistance. My enemies are many, and strong. Ah, have I not known One who is stronger than they? Why do I so easily forget?

Is not my heart a temple of the Lord? By whom shall He be worshipped, if not by me, and others like me? And shall I allow this His temple to be defiled? Let me become today a Hezekiah. Sweep it out! Sweep it out! Whatever defiles my inner purity, sweep it out!

If by reason of carelessness or any other sin I have failed in any duty or fallen short of any privilege, if the set time of my Passover has gone by irretrievably, yet I will not abandon the duty or forego the privilege. Let it be a month late, if it must be; but it shall be observed, nevertheless!

What of all my possessions do I possess? What have I that is not the Lord’s? His because He made it. His because He gave it to me. His because He gives me moment by moment the power to use it and enjoy it. And to think that I should hesitate to render back a portion for His work!

My trust shall be in the Lord; but I will prepare myself against my adversaries. My deliverance is to come from the Lord; but I will stop up the springs and strengthen the walls against them. The Lord will send His angel, to save me; but He will send him only to a prepared city.

Hezekiah asks God for protection from Sennacherib and the Assyrian army.

I have been in chains and fetters. I have been carried into exile. My crown has been taken from me. All this has been done, not by the Lord, but by myself, by my sins. And at my side, all the time, the Lord has stood, sorrowful and pitying! Oh, I will arise and go to my Father!

Sometimes, when I read the holy words, they come upon me with so full and overpowering majesty that I rend the garments of my soul, and bow myself in the dust before Jehovah. So let me read the Word at all times, with my heart attentive and expectant, and with my spirit wrapped in reverence.

It is hard to keep my fingers from the loom of divine destiny! They will be changing the pattern. They will be rearranging the threads. They will be correcting the machinery. And all my intermeddling only serves to put some flaw into the fabric or smash my fingers.